


Fishing for Answers

by foldedchip



Category: Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (Cartoon)
Genre: 24?, Character Study, Early Twenties, Fishing, Gen, Grammarly is my beta reader, Mao Mao has Histrionic Personality Disorder, Mao Mao is a feisty lad, Short One Shot, Well - Freeform, because mao's only, before series, i guess, mao's in like his late teens, that's still pretty young, what, young mao and badgerclops, younger
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-08-20 01:26:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20219500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foldedchip/pseuds/foldedchip
Summary: mao mao is a feisty lad and badgerclops is confuzzled





	Fishing for Answers

A warm sunrise melted over the lush daffodil valley, dribbling into a stream that winded into mountains.

Flames licked at scavenged branches in a weak fire, keeping Badgerclops warm as he waited for Mao Mao to catch breakfast.

Mao sat nestled in the chilly morning dew, his fishing rod dipped in the stream.

Badgerclops took notice of the fire in the cat’s piercing green eyes. Even with something as mundane as fishing, Mao Mao was ever-burning. Ever-sharp.

A certain intensity followed him everywhere: looking for another town to impress, setting up camp, even fishing for meals, he always had this cold energy to him.

“Do you ever relax?”

Mao Mao turned his head around. His voice always came out deeper than Badgerclops expected, but he supposed that he’d get used to it.

“What?”

Badgerclops fidgeted with a piece of grass, “You’re always so wound-up,” his chest tightened, “Not that it’s a bad thing, I’ve just never met anyone else like that.”

Mao’s gaze flickered to Geraldine at his side, “Can’t exactly let my guard down, I guess.”

Coiling the grass around his claw, Badgerclops drew his eyebrow whiskers together, “Why’s that?”

Mao Mao turned around, keeping the pole steady in his paw, “I’m a warrior. I fight monsters. Never know when one might sneak up on me.”

Badgerclops nodded, “I guess that makes sense.”

Mao Mao continued his waiting with smug satisfaction.

“But wait,”

The cat paused and turned around, already having figured out that it’s easier to just keep himself facing Badgerclops than to keep having to turn around.

“Don’t you go  _ looking _ for fights? To ‘make a name for yourself’?”

Mao Mao’s whiskers twitched, “Yeah…?”

Badgerclops shrugged, “Well, then why would you need to worry about that if you’re always the one who starts the fights? Or goes  _ to _ the fights? It’s not like you have enemies or anything, unless an opponent has gotten away before you could instill real fear into it. You don’t attract danger, I mean. Danger attracts you.”

Mao held his empty paw out, “So? Why is this important?”

Holding  _ his  _ paws out in defense, Badgerclops replied, “It’s not, I was just curious. I didn’t mean anything by it; it’s just interesting.”

Mao Mao stared for a moment to catch any last words, then turned all the way around to face the still water.

“Why do you like to fight?”

Mao Mao threw his head back and muttered, “I hate this so much…”

“Why do you hate questions?”

“I don’t--” Mao ran a glove over his head and gritted his teeth-- “I don’t know. I don’t know. I just don’t like to answer them.”

Badgerclops scooted closer to the fire, “That doesn’t make sense, but whatever.”

“Gah, I-”

He paused, head whipping around to the water.

He pulled a fish out of the water as it thrashed and skewered it with Geraldine in one quick motion.

Mao flicked the fish off of his sword and into a grass basket, where it made a satisfyingly squishy plop.

“Got one.”

Badgerclops picked up the basket to work on cooking the fish. Both of them could enjoy raw fish, but slightly crunchy on the outside and warm and tender on the inside was several times better.

Badger shimmied a stick into the fish, “You didn’t have to stab it, dude.”

Mao simpered, “Yeah, but I got sick of it flapping around at me. Like, ‘just die already’, right?”

Badgerclops chuckled, “Yeah, like when you’ve already shot a bandit and it tries to get you back when it’s lying on the ground. ‘You’re already done, give it up’, you know?”

Mao Mao threw his head back and laughed, sharp teeth exposed.

Badgerclops smiled, whatever was inside Mao Mao’s head, he’d figure it out eventually.

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, when Mao Mao and Badgerclops are being morbid weirdos, that’s my siblings and I making “get nae nae’d” and “cha cha real smooth” memes.
> 
> I've been at a loss for what to write, lately, probably because this series is still so new. I'd love to read some comments about any future fics anyone would like to see, it's likely that they'll be written.


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